This is Just the Beginning
by Krampus
Summary: As fate would have it, the only one to arrive at the moon uninterested in you would turn out to be the one you wanted to interest most. Shoujoai.


This started out as an exercise in Minako's pov and also an experiment with present tense, second person narrative, which is a little unusual but fully readable, I hope. I had treated it as a warm-up to the new story I'm writing, which is told entirely from Minako's perspective, but then it ran away with me and ended up turning into an actual one-shot. No complaints here, of course, and hopefully, no complaints on your end either. Now, enjoy!

Krampus

* * *

**This is Just the Beginning**

You're supposed to make a new life here. It should be easy because, just as you were told, the moon is beautiful and so are its people. They all want to dance with you and share their smiles, make you laugh and hear stories about Venus.

It's invigorating. Back home, you were the butterfly of the court too, but there, you were the princess and expected nothing less. Here, among nobles and royalty from all corners of the kingdom, no one owes you their attention but you get it anyway. It only takes months for you to get the satisfied impression that this court, or at least your peers, have become like the cobra you once saw in the market and you the piper.

After such a quick and easy rise to the top, you should have seen that an obstacle would present itself sooner or later. As life would choose, with its unique sense of irony, the only one to arrive at the moon uninterested in you would turn out to be the one you wanted to interest most.

By all rights, she shouldn't have captivated you so easily. She's nothing like you – serious, antisocial and out of place. In an attempt to label what it is that attracts you to this girl, you settle on the notion of an enigma. Puzzles are meant to be intriguing, and you certainly can't solve this one. Then you hear a group of girls giggling at a ball over how mysterious the Marsian princess is and you realise, furious, that they feel what you feel but somehow you managed to catch it worse than anyone.

She pays you no attention and you're not about to go out of your way and talk to her. As a matter of principle, she should be the one coming to you. Even so, you manage to find out a great deal about this princess from Mars, this Rei, who treats people politely but impersonally, who was once spotted meditating in the Devonian gardens, who is a year younger than you and therefore _decidedly_ below you. Besides, she's not even that great looking – hardly above average, not really worth a second glance.

But it's still not fair that she ignores you so completely. You can't even say for sure what her eyes look like, as they're never directed toward you. She has a tall, brunette friend who knows what her gaze feels like when they sit comfortably together and talk, and the princess Serenity must know, because Rei's attention if frequently on her. There are others who know as well – a group of young nobles, rich enough to spend their days as they please and not high enough in stature to be tied down by duties, who make every excuse to gain the Marsian's attention and then gush over it in front of you afterwards. You scoff at them and profess your lack of understanding where it concerns their interest in her. Of course, your words alone aren't enough to break them of their fascination. If they were, you would have freed yourself to begin with.

As there's nothing else for it, you settle on ignoring her in turn and it is soon common knowledge that mention of Rei in your presence sours the mood. It's not entirely possible to forget her existence, but for a few blissful weeks, you manage not to dwell on it like before.

Then the little Mercurian arrives and plans you never knew about get set into motion, starting with the Queen's announcement. Senshi, she says to the four of you, and for a split second, Rei is looking at you – only you – and you never knew one person's attention could feel so good. All too soon, the dissatisfaction returns in a rush as she cuts your moment short by looking elsewhere, leaving you hollow and angry at how easily your determination to ignore her was overwhelmed.

Classes start the next week in the college wing of the palace and in the training yards. You follow a regime similar to what pages undergo to become knights, plus a few extra lessons for powers that will one day manifest.

The others in the class, the non-Senshi, as you think of them, are there for their knighthood or for similar military posts. You know most of them from court and make a point of out competing them in as many areas as you can. You certainly promise yourself to never score lower than Serenity, who is also in a couple classes with you and has a memory like a sieve. Overall, you excel, though it never earns you the reward you're itching for.

You see Rei so much you probably couldn't have continued to ignore her even if she hadn't ruined it by noticing you. This inability to ignore seems to be one-sided, however, as she reverts to looking past you when she even bothers to turn in your direction. You want her to look at you again, want those eyes to see your own and linger there, or on your mouth or even just your hair. You want to see her expression darken with what everyone else so readily shows you. Even the Mercurian, shy, book-loving Ami can be made to blush with a certain look, so you know it's through no fault of your own that the Marsian just doesn't get it.

What you don't know is just why it bothers the hell out of you. Really, you try rationalising to yourself, other than some . . . _intangible_ thing, you can point to nothing about her that warrants your developing obsession. She's horribly self-centred, or perhaps just entirely introverted, both of which are completely unattractive qualities, to be sure. And she's not even that pretty. Everything about her is dark – eyes, hair, closed expression and usually her clothes as well. But not her skin, which is pale and smoothly flawless and you stop looking at her because the longer you stare, the more her imperfections seem to fade. She's just some girl, and obviously not a very bright one at that. She doesn't even have the good sense to be properly attracted to you.

Months pass, spent in classes, courtyards and ballrooms, quietly stealing glances and befriending the tall friend, the Jovian – Makoto. She's easy-going and down to earth. You find her simple optimism and reassuring aura hard to pair with Rei's apparent demeanour, but you never ask (there are appearances to maintain) and she never talks to you about the Marsian.

You've done yourself a disservice by pretending to dislike her and by publishing this fabrication, because knowing less about her only aggravates your curiosity.

Things get a little messy around the end of your first term of training when the swordsmaster finally lets up on drills and has you try skirmishing with practice blades. Your first match pads your ego nicely as you trounce the unsuspecting boy in a matter of seconds. Then the bubble bursts when Makoto steps up against you and your sword flying from your grip signals your embarrassing defeat. You thought you were doing well, but the suspicion creeps up that you've been setting your standards too low by comparing yourself to the non-Senshi.

You drag Ami over to test this theory, with no prior knowledge of the shorter girl's swordsmanship and too much zeal. The Mercurian tries to stifle her yelp, but you know you've struck too hard when Ami's practice sword drops and she curls around her hand, grimacing. You want to apologise, you do feel bad, but Makoto arrives surprisingly quickly to escort Ami away and the dull end of the practice sword that presses stiffly into your chest blocks your way. The wooden sword lowers when you stop and Ami is forgotten in the face of this hostile challenge. Your wish has been granted – she's looking at you again, but the violet gaze isn't attentive this time, it's piercing.

"I hope you're just self-centred, because if you knew Ami was shy with a sword – as anyone could _easily_ detect – you would have to be utterly callous to win that way." She says this quietly and the softness of her tone magnifies how harsh her words are.

She takes a few steps back from you and raises her practice blade into a ready position. After a stunned half-second, you clumsily bring your weapon from your side and point it at your new opponent.

She comes at you instantly, mercilessly. She's no Makoto, who strikes with bone-rattling force, but Rei is quite skilled enough to seize the upper hand and press her advantage to the fullest. In other words, she catches you flat-footed and your stumbling attempts to defend yourself only last for a minute at most. The hit across your knuckles breaks your grip and nothing else. She checked her blow, as you should have.

You fume at the humiliation, but control it and any other sentiments that might make you more of an ass than you already are. She bows, retrieves your sword for you, and turns away to resume ignoring you. You resolve to train twice as hard. That she could win so quickly and in the exactly the scenario she wanted to speaks volumes on how outclassed you are.

The break between terms is one week and you spend its entirety training. Your body aches as you lie in bed and dwell on her words, her expression. Guiltily, you also recall the supple way her body moved and the way her long hair danced. Any hope you once had that you might overcome or forget your fixation has been worn away. She's the first person you see in a room and your last thought before sleep. Getting her to like you has become a rather pressing goal and you find yourself idly scheming of ways to accomplish it when you have nothing else to occupy your mind.

Classes start again and your determination to do better carries over. You don't miraculously improve, but you're working twice as hard now and learning to pay more attention to the people around you. As you push yourself harder, a distance begins to grow and become evident between you and the group of nobles you called friends. Maybe you were never that close to begin with, but you suspect that there's something fundamental that sets the Senshi apart.

Over weeks of surreptitious study, you note that within the four Senshi, relationships are developing and changing. Through your efforts, Ami has become a friend, the skirmish forgiven. Makoto is reliable as ever, easy to speak with and entertainingly protective of the young Mercurian. Her friendship with Rei seems to have suffered, however. The Marsian has taken to acting more withdrawn than ever, hunching at her desk with sleepless eyes and refusing most attempts at conversation, even from the Jovian. She looks stressed to the point of illness and you want to approach her but if fear of rejection deterred you before she started looking so hostile, it's certainly paralyzing you now. You can only watch, as you always have, while Rei continues to seal herself off.

You make several interesting discoveries the following week, the first of which is a weapon you had never considered before. The chain feels so comfortable in your grip, moves just the way you command it to (sometimes) and enables so many subtle manoeuvres you want to kick yourself for not trying it sooner. Hours past sunset, you're exhausted, grinning and sporting whip lashes all over. The proper technique when handling whips and chains comes at a rather painful price, it would seem.

You're creeping back to your room as stealthily as possible, hoping that nobody chances to spot you and ask who it was that whipped the crap out of you. The answer would be far too embarrassing.

As it turns out, your sneaking takes you quietly past a door muffling raised voices. One speaker in particular makes you stop to listen.

"_Then help me_!"

You've never heard Rei yell, but you could never mistake her voice.

The reply is too soft for you to hear the words but you detect the placating tone of someone trying to calm another. It doesn't seem to produce the desired result with Rei, who snarls, "They need to stop! They're _unnatural_!"

You creep closer to the door to hear the reply. "They're as much a part of you as your swordarm and may prove twice as useful." The speaker is female, but unrecognisable to you.

"They will never be a part of me! I want them gone."

"Then you must first learn to control them. That, I will help you with."

Puzzled and wary of being caught, you move away and continue toward your own bedroom. You toss and turn for most of the night, trying to guess what Rei was so worked up about. The panicked edge to her anger worries you and worse, fills your mind with ideas of comforting her that have you blushing all the way to your ears.

It's several months before you gain any more headway in understanding Rei – months spent busily learning and covertly watching. Months of drifting further from her and doing your utmost to stay close without outright approaching. Your inaction puzzles and frustrates you. Every time you steel yourself to just _talk to her_ an overwhelming shyness creeps up – you feel almost petrified and all you can do is put one foot in front of the other to walk the other way and escape. What would you say to her? What if she ignored you? Dismissed you? What would you do?

You only share one class with her now, which is a blend of history and current political affairs – probably highly important as a princess and as a Senshi, but half the time you pay so little attention you may as well not be in the class at all. The rest of Rei's schedule is occupied by more specialised lessons in things like archery and meditation, whereas your classes now include military tactics and diplomacy.

Rei gradually returns to her usual aloofness after nearly a month of brittle solitude and the unhealthy pallor of her skin goes away, though you still catch her staring off into the distance, her expression not exactly cheerful. It takes some considerable restraint on your part to not grill Makoto and Ami over what was happening with Rei and it's only through observation that you learn that the brunette is back to being friends with the unapproachable Marsian, who had also started to warm to Ami.

You feel like the only one missing out, and all thanks to a ruse which you suspect is growing flimsy as you get caught oogling the younger girl now and then by the other two Senshi. But it still stings your self-esteem, especially sensitive where it concerns Rei, to think that you will have to be the one to show interest when she will not.

In the training yard one morning, Makoto offers you a bet – if she can beat you in five moves, you have to ask Rei to the next ball and if she can't, she'll ask Rei for you. Your pride roars at this bargain. Nobody's defeated you so easily lately and certainly not with your chain.

Nineteen moves later, Makoto's heavy blade is hovering near your jugular and she's still grinning like a fool. Sneaky Jovians.

"I got tired of watching you stare," she prods.

"Yeah, well I'm tired of watching you and shorty blush whenever you're within five feet of each other." That shuts her up.

Then horror at the impending ball dawns on you and for once, you're glad you no longer share weapons training with the Marsian princess. If Makoto asked her in front of you, you would spontaneously combust for sure.

Up to now, you've only ever attended balls with your beau of the moment, making them careless, flirtatious events. But Rei . . .

What if Rei says no?!

The answer Makoto delivers to you the next morning is indeed no. Sleepless and agitated, you gape while the tall girl shrugs, professing not to understand it either. It takes you all of a day to go from feeling like your soul has been sucked out, to wanting to stay in your bed and wail for a month, to needing desperately to know _why_.

She's meditating or something when you barge into her room and she only cracks one eye open at your arrival as if spurned, horribly infatuated girls regularly burst through her door. She can't ignore you now, however, and the realisation makes you just a little anxious and giddy.

"What are you doing?" you blurt.

With a sigh, she unfolds from her cross-legged position on the floor. "Meditating."

"Why?"

She stands and sits gracefully back down on her couch. "To train my body and quieten my dreams."

You don't really understand that at all and you're still standing by the open door like a tool. Or, more likely, like someone who has just come to their senses and wants desperately to flee. Why are you even here? "Why did you say no?" Oh yes, there you go.

She frowns for a moment and looks away. "Firstly, I don't want to spend the evening as your arm candy."

"Oh. But it's not–"

"Secondly, you didn't even have the grace to ask me in person – instead, you used my well-intentioned friend as a courier." She rises from the couch, limbs tense and tone venomous. "Offer this insult to someone else." She stalks away to the door to her bedroom. "And stop staring at me in class."

The door slams and you sit down to ponder your options a bit. That went nicely to hell, you think. You could explain that it was all Makoto's idea in the first place, laugh it off, go back to pretending you hate her . . . and die on the inside. No, not that, and telling Rei that she was the subject of a wager isn't likely to win you her favour either. It's hopeless, but you keep thinking on it. Seven hours later, you're being softly shaken awake by the shoulder and blink your eyes open to see a bemused Marsian.

"Next time you crash my couch, the blankets are in that closet."

You nod mutely and sit up, a little stunned and still a bit sleepy. It's too much work to pretend that you're not staring so you just sit and watch Rei move about her rooms, gathering her books and materials for the day. The way she moves, the soft lines of her body and her quiet steps are captivating. Every morning ought to start out with a little Rei.

"Is everyone so lucky as to have you stare at them, or am I the only one?" She glances over at you with a faintly amused expression.

"You're the only one," you mumble honestly.

She's looking at you again and it's not angry or appraising this time, just interested. Her eyes are a unique, enthralling shade of violet that unbalances you a bit and makes you try not to blink lest you miss a second of receiving this long desired attention.

"You should get ready for class." She breaks the stare, looking mildly flustered. "You're going to be late."

It's out before you can help yourself. "Will you go to the ball with me?"

She opens the door and looks back at you. A smile, something you've never seen before, creeps onto her lips. "I'll meet you there."

Then she leaves and you sit in a daze, a goofy grin overtaking your face. Then you realise she just left for a class you both share in five minutes and you jump up to race to your room and get changed. Her eyes rise to meet yours when you slink into the class, late, and she seems amused but returns to focusing on the teacher's lecture.

You're basically useless for the rest of the week. Either you're floating about, blissfully absent or you're stressing and agonising over details. It occurs to you that you don't remember much of what you did with your past dates asides from a dance or two and making them bring you drinks. What do you talk about? How will you be able to tell if she's enjoying herself or not?

The afternoon before the ball, Ami tries to implant some sense into your madly racing brain. "You're nervous because you don't know her well enough. That's simple – ask her questions. Get to know her better."

"And be polite," Makoto contributes.

Ami nods in agreement. "And don't be afraid to show that you're interested."

"But keep in mind that Rei doesn't take well to pretences. Just be yourself."

You snort at that clichéd bit of advice but commit it all to memory regardless. Then you shoo the other two Senshi out of your room so that you can spend the next two hours preparing to look perfect. Of course, your stubborn cowlick still cannot be tamed (as expected) and you've discovered a pimple (near your hairline – concealable) but you're ready as you'll ever be and happily terrified.

Rei looks incredible in burgundy, her hair a sleek fall of black that flutters gently as people walk past her by the entrance to the ballroom. She catches sight of you, her lips quirk upward and the evening is already worth the week of stress that preceded it.

"You look beautiful," she compliments as you enter the room together.

You flush straight down to your toes and smile so widely your face ought to crack. Even while thousands of chimps are jumping for joy in your mind, you demure, "No, you look amazing. Next to you, I probably look mediocre at best."

She smirks and disagrees. "I could never be seen with a mediocre date. You must be beautiful."

Happily, you do not disagree. Rather, you take the opportunity to nervously ask her for a dance.

The evening goes well – you don't step on her toes once, you manage not to run out of conversation and Rei pays perfect attention to you without having to try. She hears about your family, your classes and laughs with you over the story of your first botched attempt at wielding your chain. In turn, you get to learn similar details of her life, drink in her animated expression when she speaks and watch her lips move. Tentatively, you start thinking about whether to kiss her or not while you're fetching drinks. The ball begins to wind down and while you enjoy every second of it, anxiety creeps up over what to do when you part for the night.

In the end, you chicken out. You both pause where the hallway branches toward your separate rooms and all you can manage to tell her is, "I really enjoyed tonight."

She smiles and nods. "I've never enjoyed events like this, but this one was different."

Fiddling with the pale gold fabric of your dress, you venture, "Maybe next time we could do this again?"

"It could happen," she agrees.

"Great! That's yay! Um I- I mean, yay, that's great!" you bumble enthusiastically. "But yeah, so uh, goodnight."

You flee so quickly you barely hear her wish you a good night in return. It's not that you're scared, it's just that you're terrified – what if she didn't want a kiss goodnight? Going for one could have been disastrous. Best to play it safe.

Opening the door to your room, it occurs to you that if she expected a kiss it could be equally bad that she didn't get one. What if she thought you weren't interested? You had already gotten off to a bad start by letting Makoto do your asking out and now what if Rei was convinced you didn't mean anything by this date?

You spin a one-eighty, take two determined steps forward and spin around again. This is stupid. What are you going to do – stalk her out and ask for a kiss? You open the door to your room again and stop, overwhelmed by the same dissatisfaction your empty room represents.

With a sigh, you turn around again, trying to ignore the fact that if anyone's watching, you must look completely nuts. As you retrace your steps, you try and justify what you're doing – you wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, right? And really, a first date deserves a first kiss. In fact, Rei is probably horribly disappointed that–

The little quirk to her lips when she sees you turn the corner tells you everything you had just opened your mouth to ask. You stop a few feet away and fumble for a new question.

"How did you–"

"Sometimes I just know."

"Oh." What is that supposed to mean?

She extends her hand to you as if asking for a dance but when you place your nervous fingers lightly in her palm, she doesn't pull you into a spin, only closer.

"I never thought I would be glad to just know," she murmurs and she looks happy, even if she is speaking in riddles.

Growing more confused with every word out of Rei's mouth, you decide to state honestly, "I don't know what you're talking about but I'd really, really like to kiss you."

She doesn't say she knows, for which you're grateful. Her eyes search your face and she leans toward you slowly – your cue to do the same. You kiss timidly at first until every little worry just floats away and you melt into each other. You pull Rei a little closer by the waist and she approves by bringing her arms around your neck. Her lips press tender kisses to yours and you respond just as gently, lingering to suck lightly at her bottom lip. Her little gasp nearly drives you insane and it also reminds you both that you're standing in a hallway where anyone could walk by.

You separate from Rei a little, reluctant to let go but nervous about being caught. In amazement, you watch as she blushes and bites her lip, all too human, and you remember she's younger than you are, for all her cool maturity. This time when you say goodnight, she's the one who walks away and you feel a pang, already suffering withdrawal without her attention.

It goes away the next morning when you pass each other in a hallway and she smiles, just for you. Her hair is pulled back and she's in her fuku so you suspect she has power training, which is the only time you ever need to wear the full uniform. After wasting leadership class fantasising about Rei in that short skirt and those heels, you skip over to the training room to see her in action – you've heard her power is fire but you've never been able to verify this first hand.

Unfortunately, the instructor is leaving just as you get there, signalling the end of the lesson. Inside the insulated, near-indestructible room, Rei is peeling off her gloves, examining the scorch marks on the fingers with a frown. When she hears you enter, she looks up and gives you another smile.

Your insides are doing all sorts of strange, weightless acrobatics as you examine the blackened walls and try not to stare at her legs. When you do turn back to Rei, you realise she's been watching you since you entered and your eyes drop involuntarily to her lips.

"Do you want to see the new attack I'm working on?" she asks, and you nod because you are interested in more than kissing her but sometimes you get distracted.

She extends her gloveless hand with authority and the glowing sign of Mars appears in her palm. Fire bursts from the insignia to swirl around the girl summoning it and when it dies down, a bow has materialised just beyond her fingertips. Drawing her other arm back, an arrow flickers into being just long enough for you to recognise it as a sort of red version of the energy you use yourself, before both the bow and arrow wink out of existence. She frowns but shrugs.

You talk with her as you walk back to her rooms so she can change for dinner. She's nearly perfected all of her attacks and you tell her a bit about your own, which you've nearly mastered as well and she promises to drop by next week to see for herself.

As you wait on the couch while she showers and changes, you muse to yourself that you could see days like this become routine. You want to see her everyday and perhaps more importantly, you want her to see you.

At dinner, the four Senshi sit together for the first time and your heart swells with some indefinable emotion – joy and satisfaction, confidence and the sense that yes, this is how it should be. She looks at you frequently now – anytime you speak and sometimes when you're silent. You smile each time and she subtly returns it. Ami and Makoto are too happily distracted by one another to notice much, though Makoto does ask some teasing questions about the dance that Rei cheekily lets you answer by yourself.

The other two Senshi slink off after the meal, blushing at the insinuating comments you make even though you're glad to have Rei to yourself again. Her attention makes you want to curl up and purr, makes your face feel warm and your stomach fluttery. You feel energised, like you could run a marathon or two, but you also feel a sleepy kind of pleasure that reminds you of afternoon naps and kisses. By this point, you're happily resigned to being in love and you'll just wait for the right time to tell her.

As you leave the dinning room, you take her hand in yours as if it were a casual thing, thankful that Rei can't hear your heart beating like a drum roll in your chest. She squeezes back and your anxiety diminishes, though she looks over at you with an unreadable expression.

"Not that I'm complaining, but . . ." She's nervous, you realise, as she looks down at her feet. "I thought you didn't like me."

Not expecting this, you stutter a bit. "I . . . I-I never disliked you. I guess I just . . . I don't know. Maybe I didn't want people to know how much I like you." It's true, you realise, though you never took much time to analyse just why you decided to pretend to hate Rei. "I also couldn't stand the way you ignored me."

At this, Rei smirks. "I know."

You gape indignantly while she opens the door to her room and let's you enter first. "What? What do you mean?"

She sits on the couch and crosses one leg over the other and even though you're in a huff, you can't help but be a bit distracted by how gracefully she always carries herself.

"Everybody paid attention to you," she explains. "I could see it from the moment I got here that you took them all for granted so I did the opposite." She shrugs and her eyes are laughing. "It seems to have worked."

You've fallen for an evil, evil woman and it ought to bother you more than it does. "Manipulative," you murmur as you join her on the couch.

She just pulls you closer and claims your lips, one soft kiss soon joined by several more, each growing longer and deeper. Your hands take on a mind of their own and Rei doesn't seem to mind, even responds in kind, though you're both careful not to let your touches roam too far. Rei parts her lips to you and for a few minutes you lose yourself and every thought in your head to the taste and the receptive warmth of this girl you love. Wanting more but not ready to pursue it, you pull back, ending with a few light kisses and staring down at Rei's dark eyes. At some point, both of you lost your vertical positions and ended with Rei half-pinned to the couch beneath you.

"Don't ever take me for granted," she says softly. The way she looks up at you, there's a vulnerability to her that you've never noticed before and it occurs to you that maybe she values you're attention as much you do hers.

"Don't ever ignore me again," you fire back, softening your retort with a kiss that, despite the newness of your relationship, feels comforting and familiar.

"I won't. I couldn't," she replies.

You've waited so long to hear that. There are no words for how happy, how utterly complete this girl makes you. "Good," you sigh. "And I promise I will never take you for granted. I want to be with you everyday."

She smiles, something she seems to be doing a lot lately and you're arrogant enough to believe it's because of you. "It could happen"

The next few minutes are lost to a kiss that is at once a thrilling exploration and a solemn promise. It's a commitment deeper and more meaningful than any you've ever made and here it's only the second day you've been together. Being the Senshi of love does not make you much of a matchmaker, or even give you much of an edge when it comes to dating but it may be thanks to this power that you can tell, through and through, that you will never love anyone else. Not like this.

It's not such a bad realisation, you figure as you draw back and watch Rei's eyes flutter open, a little dazed, very dazzling and utterly yours. Not now that she won't, she couldn't ignore you.

You'll have to talk to Rei about how sometimes she 'just knows' things, because there's something you just know yourself. You and Rei are going to be together for a very long time.


End file.
